Lady Catherine hesitated for a moment,and then replied:
“These are heavy misfortunes,”replied Elizabeth.“But the wife of Mr.Darcy must have such extraordinary sources of happiness necessarily attached to her situation, that she could, upon the whole,have no cause to repine.”
“Tell me once for all,are you engaged to him?”
“The engagement between them is of a peculiar kind. From their infancy, they have been intended for each other. It was the favourite wish of his mother, as well as of hers.While in their cradles, we planned the union: and now, at the moment when the wishes of both sisters would be accomplished is their marriage,to be prevented by a young woman of inferior birth,of no importance in the world, and wholly unallied to the family! Do you pay no regard to the wishes of his friends?To his tacit engagement with Miss de Bourgh?Are you lost to every feeling of propriety and delicacy?Have you not heard me say that from his earliest hours he was destined for his cousin?”
“Only this;that if he is so,you can have no reason to suppose he will make an offer to me.”
“This is not to be borne.Miss Bennet,I insist on being satisfied. Has he,has my nephew,made you an offer of marriage?”
“It ought to be so; it must be so, while he retains the use of his reason. But your arts and allurements may, in a moment of infatuation,have made him forget what he owes to himself and to all his family.You may have drawn him in.”